Boesidien, Samanuddin and Abdole Hamid were members of the Netherlands Merchant Navy during World War II and are interred at Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane. Their service highlights the significant role of Dutch merchant vessels in the Allied efforts in the Pacific. Boesidien (1909–1942) Netherlands Merchant Navy – Crew member, MaetsuyckerBuried Read more
In the heart of Jakarta’s Old Town, once the centre of the Dutch East Indies, stands Café Batavia — a landmark that embodies both colonial history and modern restoration. Overlooking Fatahillah Square, the café occupies a building dating back to the 1830s, originally used by the Dutch East India Company Read more
The Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) was established in Australia in April 1944 by the Netherlands Indies Government-in-Exile. Its purpose was to prepare for the restoration of civil administration in territories recovered from Japanese occupation. Preparing personnel for this task involved several locations and organisations in Australia. NICA operated a Read more
This memoir by retired air force colonel Jan Staal offers a vivid, personal account of the chaotic months surrounding the liberation of the Netherlands East Indies in 1945. Written decades later, it is both a critique of Allied leadership and a first-hand testimony of a Dutch officer unexpectedly caught between Read more
This is a abstract in English from a chapter in a Dutch paper, titled: Het verraad van Amerika en (vooral) Engeland (The treachery of America and (particularly) England). It doesn’t mention the author. The paper is part of the archive of Pieter Boele van Hensbroek and most likely was written Read more
Early life in Amsterdam Early life in the Netherlands Pieter Robert (Robby) Boele van Hensbroek was born in Amsterdam on 18 October 1920 to André Boele van Hensbroek and Jo Sluiter. He grew up with his sister Elsje in a close-knit family. His youth was marked both by joyful summers Read more
On 24 August 1945, just days after the end of the Second World War, Melbourne hosted a massive Victory in the Pacific parade. Tens of thousands of service personnel marched through the city in celebration, cheered on by vast crowds lining Swanston Street and Flinders Street. Among the international contingents Read more
A wartime hub From September 1942 the United States Navy requisitioned land at New Farm and built the “New Farm Receiving Station” — a personnel and transit centre with barracks, messing, recreation, medical and postal facilities. It supported the burgeoning submarine and naval presence along Capricorn Wharf and nearby installations Read more
Introduction The Aceh War (1873–1904), fought in the northern Sumatran region of Atjeh (Aceh), was the longest and most costly conflict in Dutch colonial history in the East Indies. The Dutch launched repeated campaigns to subdue the fiercely independent Sultanate of Aceh, which controlled a strategic position at the entrance Read more
The State Library of Western Australia (SLWA) holds an extensive collection of publications, oral histories, photographs, personal documents and research material associated with Dutch-Australian historian Dr Nonja Peters. The two catalogues presented below provide complementary ways of exploring these holdings. The first is a broad catalogue of material associated with Read more